Greg Abbott Upset with a Republican Decision. What?

Greg Abbott, Attorney General of Texas, mandated that his office file an objection to the congressional map issued by a federal court in San Antonio. The objection, according to Tim Eaton of The Austin American Statesman, claims the federal court "undermines the will of the citizenry", and is without power to supplant the Texas Legislature's policy choices, among others (Visit Redistricting Fight for full article).
The irony of this action taken by Attorney General Abbott is that it was taken against a GOP majority panel of judges. As an outsider looking in, I can only conclude that the Republican party of Texas knows no bounds in bending the rules to increase and secure power in Texas government. The initial redrawn district maps proposed by the Republican majority Texas Legislature, although obviously intended to shift the few Democratic strongeholds that remain toward more friendly Republican situations for elections, at least had an air of democratic due diligence. This objection instead shows no signs of democracy, but is stated more along that of an autocracy, a "you're with us or you're against us" mentality intended, I believe, to do little more than intimidate.
The fact that the three-judge panel, two Republican appointees and one Democratic, felt that the Texas Legislature's map was so biased that they instead drew an entirely new one, speaks volumes. As an independent panel that was appointed and not elected, their ruling allowed for the right decision to be made, not a party decision. Not standing for clear biases and party proliferation as reasoning for redrawing districts, the court instead showed balance and fairness in their map, praised by all but the fervent Republicans frustrated that anything or anyone would stand in the way of their vision.
The article also touches on the fact that any redrawing of district maps, especially in states such as Texas with a discriminatory history, must be approved by the federal government through a process known as pre-clearance. Given this history, I hoped the Texas Legislature would recognize this mistake and seek a more compromising position. I was wrong. It appears instead that Greg Abbott and his posse wants to take Texas back to the twentieth century.